Less Than A Hero
by Terrana Seyath
Summary: Tails is sick of being just a sidekick, disregarded even by the Chaos Emeralds - but the power behind the Emeralds has other plans.
1. Prologue

- * - - * - - * - - * - - * - Prologue - * - - * - - * - - * - - * -  
  
The Hidden Palace, etched from the rock by unknown hands, people  
  
with far more power than could be dreamed of today. Unless, that is,  
  
your dreams are of the Chaos Emeralds. For within them lies the  
  
power to harness the chaotic forces that bind the universe together.  
  
Within sit three figures, not one above four feet in height. Before  
  
them sit the eight Emeralds, seven no larger than a fist, though  
  
they rest upon pedestals meant for gems many times their size. Even  
  
larger is the eighth, the Master Emerald which glows with an eerie  
  
green light, illuminating the rock cavern within the central  
  
mountain of the Floating Island.  
  
"It's funny," says one of the three, "how they shrink again when  
  
you release their power."  
  
Another speaks. "No doubt they'll return to their own dimension  
  
before long."  
  
The third smiles. "The Master Emerald looks after its own. We in  
  
turn look after it, and keep the power safe."  
  
The second gets to his feet. "Well, I'm not going to hang around  
  
here. A vacation I came for, and a vacation I'll have." Then, in  
  
the blink of an eye, he's gone, leaving only a gust of wind in his  
  
trail. Leaving the two, a fox and an echidna, alone in the chamber  
  
with the green light.  
  
Time passes. 


	2. Reflections

- * - - * - - * - - * - - * - Part I - * - - * - - * - - * - - * -  
  
Tails sat on one of the pedestals with the red Chaos Emerald in  
  
his lap, peering down at one of its surfaces, idly looking for  
  
his reflection. Of course, he wouldn't expect to find it on such  
  
a small gem, but still...  
  
"Knuckles?" he asked, causing the near-asleep echidna to open his  
  
eyes again. "Why don't I have a reflection on the surface of the  
  
Emeralds? I mean, I can see the wall behind me, but it's as if  
  
I'm not there in it..."  
  
Knuckles smiled to himself and shut his eyes again. He'd wondered  
  
when one of the pair would notice that. Of course, Sonic never  
  
stood still long enough to look at anything properly.  
  
"That's because," he explained, "To it you aren't there. There  
  
are only a few people in the world with the natural ability to  
  
harness the Emeralds' power, and each has one Emerald that  
  
responds more strongly to them than the others. Only their image  
  
will be reflected by that particular Emerald. Which are you  
  
looking at?"  
  
"The blue one."  
  
"That one would be Sonic's. I've seen him starting at himself in  
  
it, vain fool that he is. The red one is mine, and I'd place bets  
  
that the orange one's yours. They like to match their colours  
  
when they can."  
  
Tails slipped down from the pedestal and replaced its gem, heading  
  
over to the faint orange glow that marked the Emerald of the same  
  
colour. Why would they call them emeralds, he wondered, when only  
  
one of the seven is green? He leaned over the pedestal, glancing  
  
over the Emerald's surface, and then dropping back to the floor.  
  
"Not that one, Knuckles."  
  
The echidna shrugged, without getting up or opening his eyes. "I  
  
didn't say the colours always match exactly. It could be any of  
  
the others. The turqoise, perhaps, as it matches your eyes."  
  
Tails wandered across the row of Emeralds, giving each a cursory  
  
inspection, and seeing nothing. "I don't think I have one..." The  
  
disappointment was obvious in his voice. Yet another reminder that  
  
for all his own merits, he was always in Sonic's shadow.  
  
"There has to be one, everyone who has a hand in the fate of the  
  
world is bound to one of the Emeralds. Even Robotnik has one; the  
  
grey one."  
  
"How do you know-"  
  
"I used to work him, you know. That lying..." Knuckles muttered  
  
something obscene under his breath.  
  
Tails climbed up to the top pedestal and slumped against the  
  
Master Emerald, which even he was able to guess would reflect no  
  
one. "I guess I'm never going to be more than just a sidekick.  
  
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't leave Sonic for the world, but I  
  
hoped there was more to my life than just that."  
  
"it doesn't make sense, though," Knuckles replied, sitting up. "I  
  
mean, you were able to use the Emeralds to enhance your natural  
  
power, just as Sonic and I are."  
  
Tails shook his head. "Only once we had all the Super Emeralds,  
  
and unlocked the Master Emerald's power. Even Mecha-Sonic could  
  
use that, and he was just a machine. As far as the Emeralds are  
  
concerned, I'm nothing."  
  
For all that he tried, Knuckles found it hard to argue.  
  
On a beach on the other side of the island, Sonic was distinctly  
  
unhappy. "What's the point of a beach with no sea? Stupid flying  
  
island..." He dumped the surfboard in disgust. "I hope Tails is  
  
done in there and getting the plane ready; Emerald Hill would beat  
  
this any day. If only I could still use the Emeralds to fly, I  
  
could get there on my own. But... well, if I used them for my own  
  
purposes, I'd be no better than old Eggman, wherever he is."  
  
A blue blur sped across the island towards the patch of cleared  
  
trees on the western beach that made a landing strip for Tails'  
  
bright red biplane. For all that flying by emerald power is  
  
useful, nothing quite beats wingwalking.  
  
Knuckles sighed. He really liked Tails. How could fate be so  
  
cruel to the little guy, especially after all he'd done?  
  
The fox had the seven Chaos Emeralds piled beneath the Master,  
  
looking at each one, trying to see if he'd been mistaken. Had the  
  
time been right, bringing the seven so close to the Master  
  
Emerald would have changed them into their larger, more powerful  
  
counterparts in the form of the Super Emeralds. Now, though, they  
  
sat cold and lifeless in the harsh green light, much as Tails  
  
felt as he gazed into them. Sonic always got the praise and the  
  
thanks, but he'd always thought himself the hero at the end of  
  
the day. After all, hadn't they been together the whole way?  
  
Or had they?  
  
Every time there was trouble, he and Sonic went out together and  
  
dealt with it. Yet it was always Sonic that got the credit, Sonic  
  
that was always named the hero. Never a word about Tails. He  
  
doubted that anyone would really notice if he just vanished off  
  
the face of the planet, or even died. Maybe what made him different  
  
was that he didn't have that cold, hard side that both Sonic and  
  
Knuckles had, and that Robotnik was made of entirely, the side  
  
that wouldn't have cared to see him dead. That may be what the  
  
Emeralds required, but then again it may be what limits them.  
  
Perhaps he would instead see his face in the Master Emerald. He  
  
scooped up the Chaos Emeralds in his arms and began to climb up  
  
its side, on to its flat top to see the truth. "Then," he  
  
whispered to himself, "Then I'll be content with what the Emeralds  
  
think of me."  
  
Upon hearing the clatter of the seven Emeralds dropped loosely  
  
over the surface of the giant crystal, Knuckles sat bolt upright,  
  
suddenly wide awake. He turned his head and saw Tails standing  
  
atop the Master Emerald.  
  
"Tails!" He shouted up to the fox, who didn't so much turn his  
  
head. "What in the world do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Seeing if the Master Emerald thinks I'm as worthless as its  
  
cousins do." He closed his eyes for a moment, steadying himself  
  
in case the Emerald came up blank just as the others had, just as  
  
he knew it would. But still there was the hope. He opened his eyes  
  
and looked down. Nothing.  
  
A cry of pain rang out from the hollow mountain in the centre of  
  
the island, the power of the Master Emerald causing it to flow  
  
from every rock, every plant on the island. Then, in a blinding  
  
flash of light, it stopped. When Knuckles could see again, he  
  
looked to the Master Emerald's pedestal. Both it and Tails were  
  
gone, leaving the seven Chaos Emeralds scattered around the  
  
cavern. What had happened to Tails? What had he done? Where had  
  
he gone?  
  
It sounded strange, unnatural, but Sonic would know that voice  
  
anywhere. He spun around on the spot, not even bothering to stop,  
  
but turning his path towards the mountain and the Hidden Palace  
  
within. If Knuckles had hurt Tails, and Sonic wouldn't put it past  
  
him to switch sides again and try something like that, he would  
  
turn that echidna into a red smear on the wall, Guardian or no  
  
Guardian. 


	3. Eighth Emerald

- * - - * - - * - - * - - * - Part II - * - - * - - * - - * - - * -  
  
"You are early." Still nothing but white... no physical sensation.  
  
Just that voice. It's not like any voice I've heard before. It's  
  
more like several voices, all saying the same thing at once.  
  
"We had not expected you for some years yet." Expected? What is  
  
this place? Who is it that would expect me here? ...who am I that  
  
they would expect?  
  
Physical feeling again. White turns to black. I'm lying on the  
  
ground; smooth, hard, flat. I flex my tails... Tails... that's who  
  
I am. I remember now. But why can't I see?  
  
"Nonetheless, we are ready for you. You may open your eyes now."  
  
Fool. That's why I can't see. I have my eyes closed. I roll over,  
  
sit up, and open my eyes. I know this is my body, so why do I feel  
  
so detatched from it? I look around. Everything's green around me.  
  
The ground looks like green glass, yet reflects nothing but the odd  
  
glimmer of light. I've seen that before. But what has this place to  
  
do with the Master Emerald?  
  
In the space of a blink, four figures appear around me. They have  
  
the right general shape to be people, but have little definition  
  
and no colour, just black shapes against the endless green. A wave  
  
of fear washes over me and I check the fur on my arm. Still its  
  
usual orange. Relief.  
  
"Welcome, Tails Prower, to Chaotic Space." One of the figures leans  
  
over me, as if inspecting me, and I immediately back away. "You are  
  
younger than we expected. But no matter. The time must be right, or  
  
you would not be here."  
  
"The time must be right for what?" I clamp my mouth shut, realizing  
  
I said that out loud. I'm beginning to feel more at home in my body  
  
now. That's reassuring at least...  
  
"You came to us with a question in your mind. As you turned to the  
  
Masters Of Chaos for the answer, we will provide it for you. You are  
  
not favoured by any of the seven."  
  
Sonic skidded to a halt behind Knuckles. "Alright, what happened to  
  
Tails?"  
  
Knuckles didn't move, just kept looking at the Master Emerald. Or,  
  
at least, where the Master Emerald should have been. Sonic stared  
  
for a moment. "Knuckles, what happened..?" he asked again, the rage  
  
gone from his voice.  
  
"I don't know... the last I saw Tails, he was on top of the Master Emerald. I had no idea what he was doing there but then... there was this flash, and both of them were gone.  
  
Sonic gulped. "Is he..?"  
  
Knuckles shook his head, and let out a sigh. "The Emeralds couldn't  
  
directly kill anyone. But I don't want to think about what it may  
  
have done to him... or what the Master Emerald's second absence in  
  
as many months will do to the island.  
  
Knuckles looked ready to cry. Sonic had never thought him the  
  
emotional type. But was he crying for Tails or the island? The  
  
island, most likely, he was that sort of person. That, and he had  
  
never been sworn to protect Tails. Sonic felt the guilt hit him  
  
like a slap to the face. "No," he whispered, "That's my job."  
  
"What's your job, Sonic?"  
  
"Doesn't matter. I hope he's okay, though..."  
  
Both pairs of eyes suddenly turned upwards, to the Master Emerald's  
  
pedestal. Again, there was a blinding flash of light.  
  
My heart sank. I knew it already, but to hear confirmation like that  
  
was pouring salt in an open wound.  
  
"You are, however," the voices continue, "Favoured by the eighth,  
  
which does not yet exist in your world."  
  
I look up again. To say I'm surprised would be rather an  
  
understatement.  
  
"You may take it with you when you return, if you so wish, but be  
  
warned that it will cause changes you may not be ready for."  
  
I stand up. Flat as the ground is, I find it a little difficult to  
  
keep my balance at first, but quickly steady myself. I look directly  
  
at the four figures. "I've felt the power of the Emeralds before.  
  
I've seen what they can do. If it happens, I'm ready for that."  
  
"So be it, Tails Prower. Take your prize and return."  
  
Sonic let out a sigh of relief. Tails had come back. He rushed  
  
forward, leapt up to the giant Emerald and looked down at the  
  
unconcious fox. "Where in the world have you been, little guy?" he  
  
said, half to himself, as he lifted Tails into his arms and leapt  
  
down on to the stone floor in front of Knuckles. Judging by  
  
Knuckles' expression now, Tails would be on the receiving end of a  
  
ranting session when he woke up.  
  
That expression changed, though, when he caught sight of a thin  
  
silver chain around the fox's neck, from which hung one of the  
  
Chaos Emeralds. It was yellow - the legendary eighth Emerald. He  
  
himself had combed every inch of every so-called Special Zone  
  
looking for it when he thought it might aid him against who he  
  
then thought his enemy.  
  
He glanced up at Sonic for a moment. Funny how they were not only  
  
allies, but could actually be called friends. His gaze fell back  
  
down to Tails. Where had he found the eighth Emerald? And... was  
  
his fur always that pale? It had been orange this morning, unusual  
  
enough for a fox to start with, yet now it matched the yellow of  
  
the Emerald. 


	4. Going Home

- * - - * - - * - - * - - * - Part III - * - - * - - * - - * - - * -  
  
Tails opened his eyes, as if awakening from a deep, dreamless sleep,  
  
and spotted before anything else the green eyes of a relieved blue  
  
hedgehog. So, he really did care...  
  
"You bet I do, Tails." he said, making the fox realize he must have  
  
said that aloud. The usual grin returned to Sonic's face. "Just don't  
  
tell anyone, okay? They'll all want some of me.  
  
Tails smiled at this, lacking the energy to laugh, before realizing  
  
that it was that attitude that had made him climb the Master Emerald  
  
in the first place. The feeling that Sonic cared more about his  
  
reputation than his best friend... but that was what they were,  
  
friends. At least he mattered in some small way.  
  
Sonic sat down beside the fox. There were little changes, but he was  
  
definitely still Tails. "You had us worried." He shot a glance over  
  
to Knuckles, who was meticulously re-arranging the Chaos Emeralds.  
  
"Well, you had me worried, anyway. You'd think the Master Emerald  
  
would be thanking you for helping get it back here rather than  
  
beating you up like this."  
  
"Like what?" Tails sounded confused. "I feel fine. I'm tired, but  
  
fine." There was a nagging thought that he should be remembering  
  
something, something that had happened between looking into the  
  
Master Emerald and waking up.  
  
"Well, you look a mess. Your fur's gone pale, and I'm certain  
  
you've lost weight. Even Knuckles isn't sure what that gem around  
  
your neck is, though it doesn't want to come off. Come on, kiddo,  
  
let's go home."  
  
Kiddo... maybe that's it, thought Tails. Maybe they all think I'm too  
  
young.  
  
Sonic grinned and leapt down off the top wing of the biplane, making a  
  
show of doing a somersault in mid-air for the benefit of the few people  
  
who'd come along to watch the plane land. Some were there to see their  
  
heroes return, some just because a plane was an unusual sight over  
  
Emerald Hill.  
  
The arrival wasn't that big an event. Both Sonic and Tails knew  
  
practically everyone there anyway. It was, after all, home. Or it  
  
was home for Tails, and would be for Sonic if only he'd stay still  
  
long enough to call anywhere a permanent home. As it was, he'd  
  
usually be found travelling between there and the old Green Hill  
  
zone some distance away.  
  
Tails flipped a switch, and the engine stopped. That was a pretty  
  
good landing, he thought, feeling even more pleased with himself  
  
when Sonic shouted over a comment to that effect, moments before a  
  
sonic boom could be heard in the distance as he sped off. Leaving  
  
the planein its usual spot, he climbed out of the cockpit and took  
  
to the air under his own power, circling his twin tails above him so  
  
fast they became a yellowish blur in the air, lifting him upward.  
  
As he flew towards home, down in the village rather than the workshop  
  
up on the airstrip, he reflected on the new colour of his fur again.  
  
The only thing wrong with it, he had decided, was that he had no idea  
  
how it had happened. He landed, far more gracefully than he could  
  
with any plane, and put a gloved hand over the yellow gem around his  
  
neck. For a moment he began to wonder again what it was. Then  
  
everything went black.  
  
I remember being here before. I recognize the feeling of it... that  
  
feeling I'm not at home in my own body. It's black. I must have my  
  
eyes closed again. I won't open them yet, though. I wonder how I  
  
could have forgotten about my Chaos Emerald. Will I forget again  
  
when I leave this place? I hope the four I saw before are here.  
  
They'll know. I open my eyes.  
  
"Welcome again, Tails. We sensed you had a question for us, but now  
  
the question has changed. This puzzles us, but we will answer for you."  
  
So they are here. I had a feeling they would be. "Why did I forget my  
  
time here when I left the last time?" I ask, "And why am I a different  
  
colour now?" I notice that here it has returned to orange again... this  
  
really is a strange place.  
  
"You will remember all this when it is time for you to know. The  
  
changes must happen without your knowledge of why they are taking  
  
place, else we may have unexpected results."  
  
I look over at the figures. There are only three this time, it seems.  
  
Now that I think about it, I'm actually surprised there's more than  
  
one. I'd have thought that they'd all stay with the Master Emerald  
  
rather than come with me. Still... three or four, it doesn't matter.  
  
I still have one thing to ask.  
  
"If I won't remember, then can I see now what's going to happen to me?"  
  
The figures turn to each other, possibly discussing. They didn't expect  
  
that... seems I'm not quite the open book they were suggesting.  
  
They turn back to me. "This is an acceptable request. We will show you  
  
as you will be." I smile. It'll be good to know what's going to happen  
  
to me. The black figures change into what looks like some kind of  
  
black vapour, swirl around each other, then condense into a single  
  
form. I feel my mouth drop open. That can't be me, can it?  
  
"Hey, you awake?" Sonic had just finished his run around the zone,  
  
only to come back and find Tails unconcious again, just like in the  
  
Hidden Palace. This was starting to get worrying. He was no doctor,  
  
but he knew that having something like this happen twice in three  
  
days was not a good thing. But still, he seemed to be waking up now.  
  
"Yeah, I'm okay... Sonic?" Tails opened his eyes. "That's both times  
  
you've been here... thanks."  
  
"Hey, I just want to make sure you're alright. I'm starting to worry  
  
about what that Master Emerald did to you."  
  
Tails shrugged. "Like I said, I'm fine." But despite this, he started  
  
to shift around uncomfortably. He rolled on to his side and looked over  
  
his shoulder, thinking he must have landed on something. It wasn't  
  
what he was expecting to see. Tails turned his head, eyes wide, to face  
  
Sonic.  
  
"What's wrong, Tails? You look like you've seen a ghost." the hedgehog  
  
said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.  
  
"Sonic..." Tails said slowly, voice shaking a little. "I've got three  
  
tails." 


	5. Triple

- * - - * - - * - - * - - * - Part IV - * - - * - - * - - * - - * - Tails shot yet another glance behind him. "I've still no idea how I'm going to fly, or even skim like this." He'd been spending all day since it appeared trying to get used to his extra tail. Or perhaps, he thought with a grin, his extra extra tail. Now, with the day gone and the night hours old, he was worrying about how to do all the things he could before with only two. Co-ordinating the movement of another tail was going to be difficult.  
  
As if being stuck on the ground wasn't bad enough, he used almost the same method for reaching high speeds as he did to fly, using his tails as a fan. Skimming, he called it, as it carried him along a few inches off the ground - his own way of reaching the mind- boggling velocities his friend Sonic could achieve by running.  
  
He kicked his shoes off and laid his gloves down on the floor beside them. Maybe something would come to him overnight. It certainly couldn't hurt to wait until morning...  
  
It was something to do with the Chaos Emeralds; Sonic was certain of it. Both of the things that had happened to Tails had happened since he had found him unconcious in the Hidden Palace. He'd had that odd yellow gem around his neck since then as well; neither of them had been able to get it off, there being no latch or hook on the chain, which was too narrow to lift over his head. It could almost be a Chaos Emerald, Sonic reflected, except that all seven were safely back on the Floating Island. And none of the three times he'd retrieved the Emeralds from Doctor Robotnik had there been a yellow one among them.  
  
But still the connection remained. The Emeralds - it had to be them - were doing something to Tails, and neither of them knew what. Knuckles, on the other hand, might know. He was supposedly the expert, after all...  
  
Tails woke to the sunrise glinting over the horizon, its light filtering in through the thin net over the otherwise empty window. The light, and the sound of an engine struggling to start. He rubbed his eyes and made a futile attempt to remember the dream he'd had. Green... that was it. Nothing more than the colour.  
  
The engine stuttered again. Nothing better to do than go find it, he decided, especially if it was Sonic trying to start the plane. Much as Tails respected him, Sonic had no aptitude whatsoever for anything even remotely technical. He could sort of fly the plane once it was going, but getting the engine primed was beyond him, and he wouldn't know a pre-flight check if it got up and bit him.  
  
Tails got to his feet, slipped them back into his shoes, and grabbed up his gloves, pulling them on as he stepped out of the single-room hut he stayed in at night. He immediately started to spin his tails, then cursed as he remembered his third one would stop him from flying up to the airstrip. He started off at a run along the path that led up the side of the cliff.  
  
Sonic gave the propellor another spin. "Come on, start!" he groaned in frustration as the engine refused to kick in again. It was looking like he'd have to wake Tails after all. He turned to go and do exactly that, when he saw the fox coming up the path, his three tails trailing through the air behind him.  
  
"I thought it would be you trying-" Tails started, then stopped mid-sentence, coming to a dead halt at the edge of the runway.  
  
Sonic immediately dashed over and met him there. "What's the matter, Tails?"  
  
The fox looked at him quizzically. "Sonic... does my voice sound different to you?"  
  
"Well..." Sonic gave it a little thought. "Now that you mention it, there is something. It's not really obvious, though, so don't worry about it." Tails sighed and shook his head. What was more obvious, Sonic thought, was that he looked a little different too...  
  
Tails looked over at the bright red biplane that sat at the end of the runway "Well, anyway... what did you want the plane for?"  
  
"I was going to head back to the Floating Island," Sonic explained, "To see if Knuckles has any idea what's going on. I suspect the Chaos Emeralds have something to do with that third tail of yours." He put an arm around Tails' shoulders, much to the fox's surprise. "You're having trouble with it, aren't you?"  
  
"How'd you know?"  
  
"You walked up here. You never take the path when you can fly."  
  
Tails nodded sadly. It wasn't like Sonic to be that observant, but then it wasn't like Tails to go around growing extra tails. He couldn't even remember learning with two, and now he had to start over.  
  
"Don't worry, bro," Sonic said, as if reading his mind, "It'll come to you." He lifted his arm from Tails' shoulders. That's what looked different... he shook his head, and quickly changed the subject. "But since you're here, could you show me how to start this thing again?"  
  
Tails' expression immediately brightened at the prospect of playing around with their plane. "Right. And then off to see Knuckles."  
  
He walked over to the plane, gave it a quick look over, then climbed up on to the bottom wing and looked in the cockpit. The problem was immediately apparent - Sonic had forgotten to open the fuel cutoff valve. The engine was fine, it just wasn't getting any fuel. He couldn't help but laugh at the amount of trouble such a simple mistake had caused his friend.  
  
Tails immediately clamped his hand over his mouth. He shouldn't sound like that - his voice wasn't that high.  
  
They circled the island a couple of times, Sonic beginning to look distinctly bored, the thrill of wingwalking again not having lasted. Tails desperately tried keep his mind on flying, not wanting to think about what was happening to him, about all the changes taking place until he knew what they were. He wasn't doing very well. He kept reaching behind him and touching the tail that sat between his normal two, almost thinking he'd find it gone.  
  
"Hey, Tails!" Sonic yelled over the noise of the engine and the rushing air, "You going to take us down or are we just going to stay up here today?"  
  
Tails immediately got both hands back on the flight stick. "Sorry, Sonic! I got distracted." He eased the throttle back a little. "I'll land us down in the clearing from last time."  
  
Knuckles had apparently been waiting in the clearing, but had got bored waiting for Tails to stop circling and headed off to do his own thing. He'd left a note, weighed down with a small rock on top of it, inside the temporary workshop Tails had set up the last time they had been there, only a few days before. It stated simply that he'd be in the Hidden Palace. And to feel free to take their time getting there - the sarcasm practically dripped off the paper.  
  
Tails looked puzzled. "How'd he know we were coming?"  
  
"The amount of time we spent up there, he'd have to have been blind not to see us."  
  
Tails felt himself going red under his fur, not needing reminded about how long he'd let himself get distracted for. Sonic was already off, heading for the mountain, while Tails, unable to use his tails to keep up, fell further and further behind.  
  
He decided that he must have been at least five minutes behind Sonic in arriving at the Hidden Palace's entrance, a narrow tunnel cut into the side of the mountain. Knuckles claimed to have dug it himself when the Lava Reef had cooled and the rock hardened, blocking off the real entrance. Tails suspected it had really been there all along, but was glad of it as the Reef was hardly an easy trail. He winced at the memory of the burns he'd got while navigating that place, chasing after Robotnik.  
  
"I don't see what else it can be," Knuckles said, agreeing with Sonic's conclusion that the Emeralds were the cause of Tails' problems, "But I didn't know they could affect someone without their knowing, and especially not without ring power."  
  
"I think the power's coming from that yellow stone around his neck." Sonic suggested.  
  
Knuckles started to say something, but stopped when he heard a voice come from the entranceway. "Hey, guys! Sorry I took so long."  
  
The echidna tried to place the voice. It was kind of familiar, but he couldn't put a name to it.  
  
"Sonic," he asked, "Who'd you bring with you? I don't recognize her voice..." Then his eyes went wide as the voice's owner appeared out of the dark tunnel. "Tails..? Ye gods, for a moment I thought you were a girl!"  
  
It was Tails' turn to look surprised. He had been feeling a bit odd all day, but... had his voice really changed that much? Almost panicking, he turned to the wall and looked down his front...  
  
"Come to that," Knuckles carried on slowly, "In this light, you kind of look like one as well." Sonic closed his eyes, recalling just how different Tails had looked that morning on the airstrip. "Sorry," Knuckles said, noticing the fox turned away, "I shouldn't have said that."  
  
"It's okay..." Tails said, slowly turning around, voice shaking, betraying the fact that it wasn't really okay. "I mean... you were right, after all."  
  
Tails lay back against the cavern wall, then sat down on the floor. "That is what I am now." she said, and closed her eyes. 


	6. Other Side

- * - - * - - * - - * - - * - Part V - * - - * - - * - - * - - * - Here again? They're going to regret bringing me this time... I go through what now seems like the usual drill of standing up, opening my eyes and turning around. There are still only three of them, it seems.  
  
I watch them in silence for a second, then explode at them. "You didn't tell me you were going to change my sex! The fur and extra tail I can understand, but this is going too far!"  
  
What's even more infuriating is that the shadows don't seem even a little bothered by my outburst. "You had ample chance to see the end result before. In your case, a female body responds better to the energies of the Chaos Emeralds -"  
  
"And just when am I going to see these energies? Have something happen to me that is actually for the better? Thanks to you, I can't run, I can't fly, and I can barely stand to look at myself in the mirror."  
  
They did seem surprised by this at least. "We had not anticipated the problem with your tails. This shall be remedied, of course. Have patience, Tails Prower. We are adapting you far faster than could ever have happened on its own. Any faster would likely kill you."  
  
I let my rage slowly die down to mere annoyance. "So what will you do to me next, mm?"  
  
"We have two adaptations left to make. By their nature, they can and must be done at the same time. We will also give to you, as a show of our goodwill, the knowledge of how to use your third tail It would not have taken you long to learn anyway. When we meet again, the real work may begin."  
  
Sonic nodded, "This is the third time I've seen it happen. And I think it happened last night after I left too. When he..." he sighed a little, then corrected himself. "When she wakes up, we'll probably see another change."  
  
"That makes sense," Knuckles responded, "but the Emeralds can't do that. There has to be another cause."  
  
"Oh? And what else do you know of that has enough energy to mutate whoever it chooses to? We've both been known to carry hundreds of rings at a time, and even that doesn't approach the power of the Chaos Emeralds."  
  
A third voice joined the conversation as Tails made her way into the Emerald chamber. "What about the Master Emerald?" she suggested, "It can levitate this entire island and even that only begins to tax its power."  
  
Knuckles hmmed to himself and turned to inspect the Master Emerald which sat in its usual place. Sonic, on the other hand, was more interested in seeing Tails, and turned towards the entranceway. His jaw dropped. She must have grown at least a foot overnight!  
  
She cocked her head slightly. "Are you okay, Sonic..?" Then, like a light switching on inside her head, the reason for the look dawned on her. "Oh. The change thing again..."  
  
Sonic nodded, still gaping. It was downright strange to have someone you think of as a little brother change into a big sister over two days. "Yeah... I'd ask where you'd been for the last few years if you'd actually been gone that long. You look at least as old as I am!" He looked up a little as the fox came closer. "Not to mention taller."  
  
Sonic suddenly had a thought and said, almost to himself, "What about the Time Stones? I wonder if they have something to do with this."  
  
"That's a good thought, actually... except you're the only one of us who's even been near the Time Stones. I still say it's the Master Emerald. I had that dream the night before I turned female, and everything was green in it..."  
  
"You seem a lot happier now about that." Sonic deliberately failed to mention that he rather liked it himself...  
  
"Well... it doesn't really change anything, now that I think about it. There hasn't been a huge division between the sexes in aeons. Really, now that I've learned to fly again, this whole thing seems to be for the better." She then laughed, "Except my shoes don't fit any more."  
  
Knuckles turned around, about to say something about the Master Emerald, and got a shock upon seeing Tails. He'd heard the conversation, but he didn't expect her to look THAT different!  
  
Tails looked behind her and laughed - having three tails was great! This time it was Sonic's turn to have trouble keeping up. To be fair, she could just fly up while the hedgehog had to weave in and out of the large rocks that dotted the mountainside, but she could fly FAST!  
  
She touched down at the summit, just on the rim of the old volcanic crater, wincing at the force with which her bare feet hit the ground. She'd need to get a new pair of shoes made, preferably with the shock absorbers in the soles like her last pair, which still sat in the hut beside where she'd parked the plane.  
  
It didn't really seem all that bad, this new body, though it did feel strange. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd change again, either further towards wherever it was she was going, or back to the fox she remembered being only a week before. It was as if her mind had been altered to fit it with that last change... that thought made her uneasy, as she stared down into the dormant volcano. She practically leapt out of her skin when Sonic tapped her on the shoulder.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, "You seem distant."  
  
She just shrugged and smiled at him. "I wonder what'll happen to me next. Or is it finished..? No way of telling, I guess."  
  
"You're still wearing that yellow stone, aren't you?"  
  
"I am, yes. I never did bother trying to cut the chain."  
  
"Knuckles has been thinking about it - apparently it's a Chaos Emerald. I always thought there were just seven, but he says there was an eighth one he knew of but never found."  
  
Tails raised her eyebrows. "So it WAS the Chaos Emeralds. I guess there was one for me after all."  
  
Seeing Sonic's confused expression, she explained that time in the Hidden Palace, when she'd climbed up on the Master Emerald. How she'd been trying for the tiny chance her reflection might be there. Why she'd looked at all.  
  
Sonic was taken aback at how she felt. "You thought I never appreciated what you did?"  
  
Tails nodded. "Not you, or anyone else. We'd go out and save the world together, but afterwards it was always Sonic, Sonic, Sonic."  
  
"Tails..." he put his hand on her shoulder again, still standing behind her. "I could never have done any of those things without you. Who built the plane? Who flew me up to the Wing Fortress? Who brought us to the Floating Island in the first place? People always turn to me because I've been doing this for a few years longer than you. But if you turned your back on me, Eggy might just win."  
  
He tugged on her shoulder, turning her around. He saw the tears in her eyes. "The world might not appreciate you as much as you deserve, but I do. Because I need you, Tails."  
  
Knuckles panted, his head beginning to throb with the non-stop effort of climbing up the inside of the mountain. If only the teleporters still worked, he thought. But they didn't, so he had to get up the mountain the hard way. As he approached the top, the huge gash that opened the top of the mountain to the sky, opened that one time the volcano had erupted and formed the island in the first place.  
  
Sonic and Tails talking. So they had got there before him. No matter, they'd still want to hear this. The Master Emerald only ever flashed white when something big was going to happen.  
  
He lifted his head above the rim and saw Sonic and Tails, now silent, in each other's arms. On second thought, he concluded, maybe his news had best wait until they came down again...  
  
Knuckles pulled himself free of the rock and glided smoothly down to the floor of the deep crater. Sonic and Tails... who'd have thought they'd go that far? 


	7. Less Than It Seems

- * - - * - - * - - * - - * - Part VI - * - - * - - * - - * - - * - Tails leapt forward and threw her arms around a very surprised Sonic. "Thank you." she whispered, and Sonic could think of nothing more to do than return the gesture. This whole problem was because he hadn't shown before that he cared, after all...  
  
After no more than a minute, he felt Tails go limp in his arms. Alarmed, he laid her down on the ground, and was about to try and wake her up again, when he noticed the her Chaos Emerald glowing. So... it wasn't finished yet. He looked around. He wondered for a moment where Knuckles was... not that he'd be able to do anything. They'd just have to wait until she woke up again in an hour or so and find out what had changed.  
  
Knuckles laughed to himself. Sonic was never one to waste time, was he? Tails had been female for barely a day and a half, and the blue speed-freak was all over her. It was just typical of him, especially when there was something undeniably important going on.  
  
The glow of the Master Emerald had intensified while he had been gone, though the rhythmic pulse of white had stopped. He was starting to wonder if the Super Emeralds were going to make another appearance, only months after their last. Unlikely, he thought, as the time before had been before his lifetime. Twice in one year wasn't about to happen. He wondered if the Emerald's odd behaviour might be associated with the odd things that had been happening to Tails lately.  
  
Perhaps he could find out. As the Guardian of the Emeralds, he did hold some power over them. He got to his feet and strode over to one of the seven smaller pedestals, removed the red Chaos Emerald from it, then leapt up beside the Master Emerald.  
  
"Well," he muttered to himself, "It can't hurt to try."  
  
"We understand that you are feeling better about your new form." Great, what a time. Sonic and I haven't done anything like that in a long time, and I don't think I've felt that close in... ever.  
  
"What do you want now?" I demand of the shadows. "Yes, I'm happy with it. What more do you plan to do to me? I'm an exact mirror image of what you showed me two nights ago."  
  
"It is now time," they say, in their annoyingly slow way, "for you to remember. The power of the eight has been made available to you. If the need arises, you will learn its use on your own. Now take our gift and become what you seek."  
  
Cryptic. Very cryptic. Everything flashes white - that's strange, because the other times, it all went dark before I woke up again. The light fades. Back to green. Why am I still here? What was that flash if not-  
  
"What the HECK are you?" That's not the shadows... it's just one voice. A very familiar voice. It sounds like...  
  
I turn around. "Knuckles?" He ignores me, keeps looking at the shadows. What's he doing here?  
  
"We have not been expecting you. It is not time. You are not welcome here, Guardian."  
  
Still they sound utterly emotionless, as ever. I can't help but hope he'll get an answer out of them - I want to know what they are too. I don't think he has much of a chance, though.  
  
"It was you that changed Tails, wasn't it? Did all those things to him." He sounds absolutely livid... I had no idea he was even bothered by it all. Mostly he didn't seem to care... but then, I thought Sonic didn't care either. I was wrong about him, but Knuckles seems far colder overall.  
  
"The Eighth came to us freely. We did no more than we are bound to. The time merely came earlier than anticipated. Now leave. You have no business here."  
  
"No!" Knuckles shouts, "I'm not about to let -"  
  
Black again.  
  
Tails opened her eyes. She was still on top of the mountain, though the setting sun burned orange on the horizon. That meant she'd been out at least four hours. It had never been that long before. She sat up, and noticed Sonic leaning against a rock a couple of feet away, asleep and snoring loudly.  
  
She got to her feet, crept around behind him, and gave him a nudge. He was on his feet like a shot. "Wha? Who's there?" he questioned the empty air in front of him.  
  
Tails laughed. "Sonic, it's just me. You'd gone to sleep."  
  
"I had?" The hedgehog looked thoroughly embarrassed. "Well, I..."  
  
"You actually sat still for four hours of daylight!" She still couldn't help but smile.  
  
"You won't tell anyone, will you?" he grinned, acting more like his usual self again.  
  
"Oh, don't worry. It's not exactly the end of the world." She sat down where she was on the rock, thoughts drifting from the present to the shadows that had done everything they had to her. The sudden aging she could understand, everyone had always said she was too young. But why the third tail? And what reason could there possibly have been to change her sex of all things? 


End file.
